“If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?” (James 2)

Pope Saint John XXXIII always said that you can’t expect people to listen to the Word of God if they have empty stomachs. He continued saying that feeding the hungry is not a “charity” for the Christian; it is an obligation! I once went to visit my niece who took me out for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The food was delicious and plentiful. There were so many leftovers that I was carrying a shopping bag full of food to take home. Outside the restaurant, a poor person asked us to help him out so he could eat. I felt so badly for him as he looked famished. I also realized the irony of my having a shopping bag full of food, while he had nothing at all to eat. Without batting an eye lash, I simply gave over my whole bag of leftovers to him from my luncheon. The man’s eyes opened wide with disbelief, and he thanked me profusely as he began to pick at some of the food. My niece was in a state of surprise and wondered if I should have kept some for myself. I responded to her: “I am not trying to look like a saint or a hero. If I can help even only person meet his basic human need to eat, the world has already become a better place!” In today’s 2^nd reading, St. James strongly reminds us that we demonstrate our faith to others from our good works. Catholicism is a faith-in-action type denomination. When we look at the Gospels, Jesus is always doing a feeding, a healing, or a welcoming. He is teaching us that real faith is about helping other people in their need. I will always remember the words of a wonderful spiritual director that I worked with many years ago. He once said to me: “Real religion is not about religion; it is about life!” How true that is. How can we say we love our neighbor if we don’t do something to help them in need? I love how our parish first and foremost strives to meet the basic human needs of people who come to our doors, especially the poor of this city. I am now serving my 17^th year of ministry here at Blessed Sacrament. My longest before this in any other placement I have served is ten years. When I ask myself what is the reason I have stayed so long at Blessed Sacrament? One of the prime reasons is that we serve the poor. It brings us closer to Christ. And if nothing more in life that I have, I always want to have Christ with me.           ~ Fr. John